Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

..... .~-: -"'-~""-.- -" GETTING GREASE INTO DAMAGEGREASEZERKS By R.od Breaker FINDING LEAKS CARBURETOR AIR It is amazing how many riders will blame a seized piston (or a holed piston) on improper timing or improper jetting. One of the many causes of these catastrophies is the carburetor air leak. This is not a leak in the carb itself, but an air leak between the carburetor and the cylinder. In the old days, it was usually from tigh tening the carb down too tigh t and causing the mounting flange to bow and let in the air to lean the mixture, but motorcycles have become much more complex. The rage now seems to be to see how many th'ings you can put between the carb and the cylinder. This is usually in the form of a metal carburetor adaptor, or else a section of rubber with a couple ,hose clamps or . what have you. Each time there is a joint between the carburetor and the cylinder, there is another chance for an air leak. Even on some new machines thete is a rubber connector used to hold the carb in position. This isolates the carb from engine heat and vibration. The main problem is that after a few years, this rubber is attacked by the ozone in the air and sometimes cracks all the way throuRh. The rider's problem then is to find out if he has an~air leak problem before it costs him money. The easiest way I have found to check for these leaks is with a small four or five ounce plastic squirt bottle such as comes with hair conditioning kits that your wife uses to tint her hair. Start the engine and se tit to idle as slow as it will with an even tick·over. Fill the bottle with gasoline and carefully (I mean carefully. Smokey the Bear doesn't dig fires, so make sure there are no bare wires that could cause a spark) squirt it around the connections and the rubber connectors. If the connections are sucking air, you will be able to tell by the tone of the engine as it will definitely change, in fact if it is bad enough, it will probably stumble and die. I cannot caution you enough to be careful when doing this because of the fire hazard, but you do not have to drown the engine with fuel, just squirt a little around each junction. If you have a duo carb outfit, after you have checked one side,wipe it off and proceed to the other. One thing that may lead you to suspect. an air leak is if you have to set your idle air screw quite a bit richer than the manufacturer's recommended setting to get an even tickover at idle. CORONA FT & H-M NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS or The Spirit of the 76 y~:;~oi,~~72 June 25, 1972 By Elaine Jones MINI BIKE A PEE WEE 632 1. Mark Brelsford Hon Scolt Stobollto 2. Gary Scott 562 COt Cha,'" Thompson 3. Kenny Roberts 561 Hon Ronnie Hattendorf MINI BIKEB 4. Gene Romero 447 Hon Terry McCreery 5.. John Hateley 396 Hon Stan Kinsey 6. Jim Rice 380 Hon Wayne Rainey MINI CVCLEA 7. Dick Mann 355 Vo", David Jones 8. Cal Rayborn 308 Vom TOry Gallagher 9. Eddie Mulder 307 Vom Jeff wright MINI CVCLEB 10. Gary Fisher 275 Vom wayne Ralne,y 11. Vvon DuHamel 270 Vom Bobby Bazant 12. Chuck Palmgren 211 Vom Pat Richmond 100 NOV FT 13. Mike Kidd 204 Kaw Robert MUrrAY 200 14. Mert Lawwill Kow Jim Wood 15. Don Emde 180 NSU Dave Hampton 100-125 A~ FT 16. Rex Beauchamp 178 Kaw Wayne Wh senant 17. Dave Hansen 156 Kow Randy Monroe 18. Ray Hempstead 154 Hon Tom Doty 125 NOV FT 19. Dave sehl 149 Vom Terry Griner 20. Dave Smith 135 Yam Frank Ridlon 21. Kel Carruthers 116 Suz Richard Kyaer 250 NOV FT 22. Don Castro III Suz Don Boon 23. Frank Gillespie 110 Mal Brian Tolson Vom 24. Keith Mashburn 96 Jack Eitzen 250 AlE FT 25. Fred Guttner 87 Bul Clyde Grizzle 26. Dave Aldana 75 Bul Bob Graves Vom 27. Mark Williams 72 Dave Rees 350 AlE FT 28. Gary Nixon 66 Mal Rod Sexton 29. Jimmy Odom 63 Vom Randy Hoff 30. Doug Sehl Mol 60 Grant Murray Jr. 650 AI.E FT 31. Ron Pierce 56 Vom Walt oster 32. Tad Sloan 54 Vom ScoltSmlth 33. Gary Landry 50 Kow steve Johnson HALF MILE 34. Charles Seale 50 250 AM 35. Larry Darr 44 Bul Gary White 36. Mike Ninci Bul 36 Randy Roderick Vom Mel Stoner 37. Skip Van Leeuwen 35 250 EX 38. Ted Newton 30 Bul Steve Hyder 39. James Allen Bul 25 Hal eneelwood Bul Clyde Grizzle 40. James Allen 25 350 AlE 41. Marty Lunde 22 Kow Rick Milner. 42. Roger Reiman Vom 20 Scolt Smith Vom Chuck Fruchey 44. Cliff Carr 20 650 AlE 45. James Dunn 17 Yam Walt Foster 46. Frenchie LeBlanc Mol 15 Grant Murray Jr. Trl Mark Dolce 47. Larry Palmgren 15 48. Conrad Urbal10wski 12 49. Ron Moore 12 50. George Kerker 11 TT SCRAMBLES 51. Allen Kenyon 10 TTMC 52. Bart Markel 10 AdelantoiCallf. June 25, 972 53. Ed Hermann 10 BY Ed DrechSler 54. Tom Rockwood 10 MOTOCROSS SO NOV Vlctorla Texas 55. Paul Bostrom D.Nlcol 9 June 4. i 972 E. Lawson By Rita Gunter 56. Robert E. Lee 9 R. Edge 100 JR 57. Randy Scott 9 100 NOV Dwayne Mach leek D. Hempton 58. Mike Haney 9 Midge Mitchell B. Herrick 125 JR 59. Steve McLaughlin 9 R. Bird Robert Vaughn 60. R. G. Wakefield 9 Walter Rasmussen 100 AMIEX R. Milner 61. Mike Lane 9 Ted Nicholson W. Whisenant 250 JR 62. Geoff Perry 8 V. Hensley Cliff Horne 63. Dusty Coppage 8 125 COMB K.L. Costle S. Smith 64. Robert Winters 6 OPEN JR M. North Gilbert Swain 65. Terry Dorsch 5 J. Clark R..T. 66. Eddie Wirth 5 LarryFoster 175/200 COMB Wilder 67. Gene Brown C. Soderstrom 5 100 SR S. Ludwig Jake Warren 68. John Samways 3 Bruce Miller T. Avloan 69. Roger Ring 3 250 NOV 125SR O. Van Hee 70. Larry Schaffer George Larzelere 3 S. Hein Cecil A. Jones 71. Don Twigg 2 R. Plueger 250 SR 72. Andre Lescoutx 2 David Bosart 250AM Murray Trager 73. Doug Libby C. Helland 1 OPEN SR D. Raes 74. Bob Bailey 1 David Bosart J. Cesmat 75. Dave Damron 1 George Larzelere 250 EX J. Sprague 76. Robert Ely 1 EUROPEAN SCRAMBLES District 38 carlSl>od. Col. June 25, 1972 BY Andre Ney OPEN EX Cliff -Ntotlock Suz Mickey Quade Hus 250 EX Eddie Foland ass Mike HarD« This system may save you the expense . ' . of. replacing the pistons a~ a..late~ date if you cure the problem now. Vam 250 NOV Steve Pollack OPEN NOV Craig Adams Greg Tlget 125 NOV Mark Briludaway Suz Hus Hus Pen M. Myers R. Hutchins OPEN NOV J. Sindona B. Rich B. Sanderson OPEN AM K. Paxton P. Lynch O. Varyan OPEN EX s.smlth J. s",ogue K. Redding . In the fust place., the word zerk is a misnomer, at least on the imported motorcycles. It appears that the grease fitting known as a zerk fitting is a patented item and this is the reason that the imported machines use the type of fittings that they do. If you have tried to grease your machine at the local gas station, you have probably run into a little bit of difficulty. It was for this reason that Sta-Lube developed their small hand operated grease gun. It not only fits the smooth type of fittings found on the English and Japanese machines, but will work equally well on the American zerk fittings. In fact, Yamaha at one time included a small grease gun in their tool kit. As most machines only have two or three fittings, most riders tend to ignore having their machine greased, but remember if the factory did not think that these particular spots warranted greasing, they would not have installed the grease fittings. It is just a matter of preventative main tenance to grease these fittings at the allotted time as specified in your rider's handbook. If you should find that the grease doesn't want to enter the fitting due to damage to the face of the fitting (one advantage of the_ zerk fitting is the lock-on principle), you can place a rag over the fitting and apply the grease gun so the grease is forced through the rag. This will seal it, and the grease will go directly in to the desired spot. If the nipple has been damaged badly enough that this will not take care of the proble,m, you should replace it with a new one. GETTING NUTS AND SCREW INTO THOSE INACCESSIBLE SPOTS I am sure that you all have had the problem of installing a nut or bolt into some hard to reach spot. Usually you can see where it is supposed to go, but to reach it is something else. For screws, Snap-on makes a handy little spring.loaded item that holds the screw until it is inserted, but again this is not something you will fmd in the tool box of the average hOl1)e mec/;lanic. If you ever find yourself confronted with this problem, you migb t try taking a short piece of rubber hose such as gas line or whatever would be of the proper size and slipping it over the tip of a screwdriver. With this extension on the end of the screwdriver, just wedge the bolt or nut into the end of the hose and reach in with the screwdriyer and start it in position. After it is started, extract the screwdriver and the hose and tighten it up with the wrench. Sometimes it is a little difficult even with this bit of help, but it is not half as frustrating as trying to do it with your frogers (which suddenly tum into thumbs) or worse still, dropping it into some still further unobtainable spot which may require you to dismantle something to get at it. '" /1 -K& G1IIII_.gileerilg __ FRAME MODIFICATIONS Gth.. fTIIkes It models altefWd per your specs at slightly hlg..... cost 2353 San Fernando Rd. P.O. Box 65735 WordS. pictures and diagrams worth their weight In gold. Bill Brokaw and Wiltz Wagner combine their talents to provide· an Introductory Into th~ off-road world.. ShouJd be mandatory reading for all beginner cyclists and recommend reading for even expert riders. Limited edition $3.00. Cycle News PrOducts, P.O. Box 498 Dept. CNP. Long Beach, Ca. 90801. Los Anll"les. Calif. 90065 (213) 222-8778 W~ROS MOJ~lJ( RI\lERSIOf E.,. Bt~nrl;1 PARll~A fir ItIIIu MIIrcJR-.. EIIIII Ell Chl.11 BIANCHI - . 1. . - - ' - ' CAPRIOlQ CAPRI SCOOIfRS Kaw Kaw Kow Kaw Kaw Kow Yam Kaw NBL Bul Bul Oss Oss Bul Mol Vom Vom Bul Bul Vom Bul Mol Mol Vom Vom Suz Trl Vom Trl Mol PARTS w.vl ..........., MIJ AGUSTA :.'JU Suz Suz Suz Complete 1972 line-up on display' at the VALLEY'S LARGEST, MOST EXPERIENCED RICKMAN DEALER KOlBECYCLESALES, INC. 22123 Ventura BI¥d. Woodland Hills (213) 348-7891 c> .,- -5 .., ~ w Z ~ ~ 0 Many times in some of my articles, you will notice I refer to tapping something lightly with a candy-axe. This is just a slang term I use for a soft-face hammer, whether it is a hide hammer, ... plastic hammer, or maybe one you have made yourself ou t of lead. Personally, I prefer the plastic hammer or a brass hammer, but as long as it is a soft face, it will do. Of course not everyone owns a plastic mallet and when you are at home working on your machine it is usually too late in the evening to go borrow one from your buddy. It seems that almost everyone owns a small ball-pean hammer (at least this is what I have deduced from the looks of most of the machines that home mechanics bring into me), and if you have one, you can usually make·shift one to do the job. If the drug store is still open, you can go purchase a pair of crutch fips (or if you are a long-time rider take one off your crutches). Take one of these and slip it over the non-ball end of the hammer, . and you have a nice cushioned surface for tapping on your engine cases. If it is too much hassle to go to the store, you will find that the plastic tips on the bottom of most kitchen chairs will do the job just as well. It is best that you wait till your wife or mother goes to bed before employing one of these. She will get a little hostile sometimes. "ESCAPE BY TRAIL BIKE" Yamaha DT-1, RT-1, CT·1, AT-1 & Suzuki 400 & Hodaka 100 :g, i:. MAKESHIFT CANDY·AXE OOPS!! SHOULD HAVE READ Production prices now ..,.ilable for l5l HllIboro. P•. l~ (215) 672·9100

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